


We Are Not the Titanic

by UisceOneLove



Series: Dark Stony Bingo 2021 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Panic Attacks, Race Against Time, Steve Rogers Being The Hero, Tony Stark Has A Heart, steve rogers being an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29953698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UisceOneLove/pseuds/UisceOneLove
Summary: Ultron has them on the ropes, his suit is down, and Captain America is not figuratively hanging over the edge.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Dark Stony Bingo 2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2193099
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29
Collections: SteveTony Acheronian Bingo 2021





	We Are Not the Titanic

**Author's Note:**

> So this isn't as dark as the other submissions but technically it fits. And I am okay with that. 
> 
> Stony Dark Bingo, Trope Inversion, Square: "Hand Holding"

Tony gripped Steve's hand in with his gauntlet like his life depended on it. 

Oh, that's right, because it  _ did _ .

"What happened to us agreeing not to do anything stupid, Cap?" He gritted out through his teeth, the modulator of the suit making it sound more mechanical than angry. He's sure Steve got his point. 

Steve's distressed laugh filled Tony's helmet like a melancholic song. Tony just needed his suit to power back up enough to pull the man to safety and it'd be all peaches and cream. "What did you expect me to do, Tony?" Steve asked, looking down at the spec of land beneath them that used to be where Sokovia was settled. 

"To not treat this like flying a damn plane into the Atlantic!"

"Ultron's bots were going to send that family over the edge, Iron Man, I couldn't let it." 

"We have a  _ speedster _ on the team who could have saved them!"

Steve stayed resolute, as he always did, the bastard. "Even Pietro wouldn't have made it in time."

"JARVIS--" Tony cut himself off. JARVIS was still dead. His voice only existed now as Vision. Stats on his visor were  _ not good enough _ and maybe if Thor would show up with his hammer to--

"Stark." There was a subtle slip of leather in the gauntlet. "Just let go."

"I am not gonna be the one who killed Captain America," Tony snarled. 

"Stark," Steve repeated. Tony wanted to punch his calm face but that would defeat the purpose of not letting him die. "I need to see you."

Tony tested his repulsors again, they were getting closer but still not there. "You're looking at me right now, Cap."

" _ Tony. Please. _ "

He hesitated. It was brief. Very brief hesitation. Then the faceplate was lifting and Tony's anxiety-riddled face was right there for Steve to see. "You know how dangerous this is, right? You're leaving the moneymaker pretty vulnerable asking me to do this, Steve."

"I know." Steve nodded his head down at the fall. "Think I'll be a pancake?"

"You will be a splattered excuse of a supersoldier, which is why I'm not--"

Steve used the weight of the suit against him to lever himself up and send a punch right into Tony's face. He felt blood gush from his nose before the blooming of pain. "What--" Tony, moving on reflex, let go of Steve to grab at his face. His hand shot back out when his brain caught up with it. " _ Steve _ !"

It wasn't slow motion. Steve was falling and it was happening fast. A patriot man-shape that became a blip the further the supersoldier went. Panic clawed at Tony's chest to make it hard to breathe. He didn't need lungs full of water to drown when the air wasn't working fast enough to fill them either. 

Tony shut his helmet and cursed at his repulsors, not caring if they weren't done; he was up and launching himself down over the edge, too. The free fall was like when he survived came back through the portal during the Battle of New York. 

Or what he assumed it was like, he hadn't exactly been conscious when it happened. He stayed ramrod straight as he descended, able to spot Steve down below as they both approached Earth. 

"Come on, come on, come on," Tony chanted to himself, watching the last digits go up on his charge until the repulsors kicked on with a sharp jerk. "I really hate the last-minute timing!"

Tony propelled himself, urging the suit down faster to play catch up to the Captain. He told Steve that he wouldn't be the murderer of Captain America and he meant it. 

What the hell even was with Steve and falling or crashing? The Valkyrie, the Triskelion, and now this? 

He was getting close enough now that he could see Steve wasn't thrashing or maybe not even conscious. The man's eyes were closed, face blank with calm, and that clenched Tony's stomach with bitter anger.

"Repulsors at full power," the man barked at his suit. Tony didn't care if he burned out the rest of his power so long as he gets there in time. The crater was barely yards away and Steve was just there at his grasp.

Tony jerked himself forward one last time and pulled Steve into his arms before turning them around at the last minute, braced for impact, and jolted them just before impact to send them flying horizontally to the ground until he could slow their speed enough to make an only slightly-rough landing.

The suit gave way a moment later to someone reciting his manual override and it was like a reverse image; now Steve looked as scared as he'd been up on the island. 

Steve cradled his face, careful not to jostle any other part of Tony's body. 

"You idiot," Steve whispered, resting their foreheads together.

"Idiot is what idiot does," Tony whimpered nonsensically. 

Steve pressed his finger against his comm. "Vision, if you can hear me, send an alert to Agent Hill for medical, now." 

"Can we make sure it's the good drugs?" the brunet asked. 

"Whatever you want, Tony." 

"Good, good. Steve?"

Steve's thumb traced Tony's chin. "Save your energy." 

"I'm fine. It's important. Don't be an asshole, let me say it."

"What, Tony?"

Tony waited until Steve's thumb moved up enough to press a kiss to it. "I love you."

Steve let out a freshly wrecked laugh, breath pillowing against Tony's face. "I love you too." 

"Oh, good."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos feed my dark soul. Please leave some!


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